The Scarlet Letter

1
The Scarlet Letter

• Nathaniel Hawthorne

2
Puritans

• Puritans believed nothing could save their souls
  but the grace of God, and he decides everything
  ahead of time.
• Puritans lived by a strict code of ethics and
  literally interpreted the Bible.
• They did contribute many positive things to
  America the first American college, printing
  press, elections, and public schools.
• Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter two hundred
  years after his ancestors arrived in Salem. He
  acknowledges his ancestral guilt as a
  descendant of one of the judges in the Salem
  witchcraft trials.

3
Chapters 1-3

• Characters
• Hester Prynne
• The Stranger
• Pearl
• Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale

4
Chapters 4-6

• Symbols
• The Black Man
• Hesters self-penance and elevation of
  Pearl
• Pearl - the repercussions of secret sin

5
Chapters 7-9

• Bellinghams home and Mistress Hibbins
• The importance and imagery of the scarlet
  A.
• Dimmesdale with Pearl
• Chillingworth and Dimmesdales soul

6
Chapters 10-12

• Pearl symbol of truth and disregard for
  society and its methods.
• Scaffold scene 2
• The electric chain.
• The A in the sky

7
Chapters 13-15

• Hesters new role and self-awareness seven
  years after the act
• The transformation of Chillingworth and
  Hester cutting ties of responsibility to him
• The role of the Scarlet
• Letter who should
• remove it and Pearls
• understanding of it

8
Chapters 16-18

• The source of sin is varied, starting with
  Hesters marriage. Sin versus evil.
• Hypocrisy in Mistress Hibbins.
• The forest reflecting mood, joy realized.
  Hesters transformation and Pearls reaction.

9
Chapters 19-21

• Hester and Dimmesdale making the same
  mistakes made when the Puritans left for the New
  World, in reverse.
• Dimmesdales wandering thoughts, his soul torn.
• What is the purpose of chapter 21?

10
Chapters 22-24

• The visiting sailors and Native Americans and
  the Scarlet Letter
• Dimmesdale judge, jury, and executioner
• Dimmesdales proclamation manipulated into
  allegory
• Pearl becomes human, Hester becomes a symbol